Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 109
Seventh Day Adventist
Suit against Pastoral Counselor Dismissed
Jerry Rose‘s suit against former Issaquah Seventh-day Adventist church pastor Terry
Campbell, accusing him of destroying the Rose family, has been dismissed by a judge in
King County, WA. Rose alleged that Campbell‘s spiritual counseling of a group of women,
including Rose‘s wife and daughter, led to an attempt on Rose‘s own life and the murder of
the daughter. Mrs. Campbell pleaded guilty to murder conspiracy and was released this
summer, early, from a five-year prison term.
Rose said Campbell implanted false memories of satanic ritual abuse in his mentally fragile
wife and other women, and turned Rose‘s wife against him. Members of the counseling
group say Campbell knew of the murder plot and even stored for one of the conspirators,
Rose‘s daughter, a box of drugs she did not want police to find after the planned murder.
Campbell admitted he has no formal psychology training, and Seventh-day Adventist
officials defended his practices as constitutionally protected religious belief. They say the
denomination believes all illness is a by-product of sin and caused by Satan, and that the
ministry to deal with the problem is not limited to psychologists and psychiatrists.
―I find it outrageous,‖ said Rose‘s attorney, Susan Johnson, ―that the court has found there
are no consequences for the church or the pastor. The church trained Campbell in
questionable and manipulative counseling methods, put him in a position of power and
allowed him to counsel vulnerable people, and moved him from church to church every time
complaints arose that he was overly involved in counseling.‖
Superior Court Judge Terry Lukens said state law does not allow damages for a spouse
injured by a counselor. Attorney Johnson argued that Campbell also counseled Rose at one
point, and ignored his duty not to harm persons whom he counsels. Mrs. Rose has not
commented substantively on the matter since her release from prison, but told the press: ―I
have fears about people you don‘t understand. If I could stop Terry Campbell, I would. But I
can‘t.‖ (Noel S. Brady, King County Journal, Internet, 10/11/03)
Social Therapy/All Stars Project
Call for Bank to Cease Involvement
The co-chairman of the ―Save the Independence Party Voter Coalition‖ of New York City has
called on the Wachovia Bank to drop an $8.5 million bond issue for the non-profit All Stars
Project, Inc. Mike Niebauer says that the leaders of the theater program for inner-city
youth, Lenora Fulani and Fred Newman, practice ―social therapy,‖ which New Jersey expert
Rick Ross calls cult-like.
Ross says that social therapy — which encourages political activism to cure depression and
other problems — has ―devastated‖ some former members who ―compare it to
brainwashing. They lost their ability to think independently.‖
The Anti-Defamation League lists anti-Semitic remarks made by Fulani and Newman and
expresses concern about companies that deal with the All Stars Project. (Rick Rothacker,
Charlotte Observer, Internet, 5/26/03)
Solar Temple
Claim Murder and Not Suicide
Relatives of Solar Temple supposed suicide victim Alain Vuarnet, who died with fellow
members in the French Alps in 1995, claim that tests on Vuarnet and his mother‘s exhumed
bodies suggest incendiary chemicals were used, which would in turn suggest they might
Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3, 2003, Page 110
have died from some ―outside intervention.‖ (BBC monitoring French Europe Radio 1,
Internet, 9/19/03)
Strategic Management Works
Wealth Guru Said to Manipulate Students
Anglican priest Dave Smith, who wanted to learn how to manage a church fund, says a
Strategic Management Works (SMW) week-long residential financial security program he
attended near Sydney, Australia, included five days‘ food and sleep deprivation and
manipulation to reduce the emotional defenses of the attendees, who each paid $5,500 for
the course. Some former students say they have gained from the ―Born Rich‖ experience
others say they have suffered emotionally.
Father Smith described how course facilitators urged students to cheer the entrance of SMW
head Roy McDonald — addressed as ―the government‖ and the only one allowed to wear
shoes — who has built a group of 24 companies with a $30 million annual turnover.
Graduates of the Born Rich course go on to become accountants, property developers, real
estate agents, and financial planners in SMW companies.
A former SMW manager who left because he was concerned about the charismatic
McDonald‘s methods says: ―Roy would break people down and then show them a way out. If
he made someone cry he would come racing out of his office announcing: ‗I got through.‘ ‖
McDonald says his method is an amalgam of influences from self-help gurus Tony Robbins
and Robert Kiyosaki, and confrontational self-awareness organizations such as Landmark
and Insight. He also says SMW is not a cult.
Critics believe McDonald‘s psychological techniques should not be used in public,
uncontrolled, without counselors present. Father Smith reports pressure on participants to
conform or risk group ridicule or getting soaked by McDonald‘s water gun. Some, he said,
broke down in tears or screamed.
Former Avondale College psychology professor Lyn [sic] Gow tells how McDonald
destabilized her, made her dependent, and then got $47,000 in course fees in less than a
year from her family. She became disillusioned after mortgaging her home, losing her stock
shares, and experiencing the deterioration of her family‘s health and relationships.
Paul (who would not give his last name) says that the Born Rich course made him and his
wife a half-million dollars in property trading profits and ―changed our lives.‖ Many
graduates pay $400 to join McDonald‘s ―SSS‖ and receive commissions for recruiting new
members. (John Garnaut, Sidney Morning Herald, Internet, 9/13/03)
Superior Universal Alignment
Leader Acquitted of Ritual Murder
Valentini Adrade, the 72-year-old leader of a satanic cult in Belém, northern Brazil, has
been acquitted in connection with the ritual murder and sexual mutilation of several young
boys. Four of her followers were earlier convicted of the crimes, committed in the western
Amazon region of Altamira. She was accused of ordering the murders in connection with a
―black-magic‖ ritual. (AP in Canoe, Internet, 12/5/03)
Tekely (Alan Tekely)
Breathing Without the Stomach
Four members of a religious group, including reported leader Alan Tekely, have been
charged in the death of Antoni Rolfi. They allegedly handcuffed him and beat him to death
after Rolfi returned home the night before naked and incoherent and threatened the other
―family‖ members with a spear gun.
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